Ginx snewx Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 22F low this AM. Few flakes in the air this morning. 33F now. Tomorrow does not look very exciting. My brother and family moved to Aspen and just built a house. Its at 8500 feet. About 500 feet above the town. I bought him a dropcam so I could look at his view and weather. I am not familar with Rocky Mountain weather. Snowed all day yesterday and its 8F now. His view faces SW overlooking Aspen Mountain and 14,000 peaks just to the west of that. Looking at the picture this AM it seems that west wind is rising over the peaks and depositing snowshowers just downwind. Powder, does it looks like that to you?? I kind of like the flying saucers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 My brother (he's 46) just finished his new house this summer. He and his wife have 2 kids. The house is large but not a McMansion by any means. He told me it cost around 6 million. I attached a picture. It has solar electric and his bill he says only runs $100 a month. The house is on a mountain side call Starwood. It has a heated outdoor pool, firepit and the kids have the treehouse thing. It overlooks the village of Aspen.He says he's at 8500 feet, I think Aspen is at 7900. I have not been out there yet. He sees the whole mountain chain to the SW and West. He kept telling me the views were incredible and that I would love to watch the "weather systems" that constantly roll through. So I bought him a $199 dropcam. He stuck it on a window and he is right, the squalls and cloud layers are constant stunning. I don't post them here since its not relevant. Since I bought the cam I can estimate snowfall by the railing. So far maybe 20" for the season. Last week it was really interesting watching it snow at the higher elevations but not stick at elevations below his house. My brother invested in one of those self storage things 20 years ago and then a share in a small hotel. He keeps buying low and selling high and now has a beautiful home and a family private jet. When I was 20 I got my private pilots license and then kind of dropped flying. As a kid 10 years younger he would fly with me and when he got older he got his license. He loved it so much he bought a small single engine and then a twin. 2 years ago he got his jet license so he can now fly to the 20 hotels he owns in his Phenon, a 6 seater.. Nice life!! If you guys want I will occ. post a great weather picture if I see something interesting on his cam. I would definitely recommend a drop cam, its high resolution. I don't know why ski resorts have such crappy cams. Sounds rough...lol. I'd love to see more pics from there. If you don't want to share many in here you can always throw them in the central/western subforum too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Sounds rough...lol. I'd love to see more pics from there. If you don't want to share many in here you can always throw them in the central/western subforum too. Yea I would love to see them, interested in this drop cam stuff . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 He just set up the dropcam about 10 days ago so I have not captured many images. Here is one from last week during one of the first wetter snows. I didn't know much about the dropcam either. They come in 2 versions. $149 and $199 for the better one. It just plugs in to a indoor outlet (they don't make an outdoor weather proof version like my Netcam) and then it connects to your house WIFI. You set up an account with a password and it streams to your account. For $10 extra bucks a month it saves 2 weeks of streaming. You can zoom in, set it to take stills if it detects movement and it has a microphone if you are away and want to hear what is going on in the house. I think it can work like skype with 2 way calling too. Anyhow for $149 its a great weather cam too if you are away alot. I would definately get on if I didn't have my Netcam. Just google them. I will post pictures here and there from his view if I see something worthwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 It's snowing! Well, just a few scattered flakes but my first of the season. Yippeeeeeee We had some snow here this morning as well – perhaps it was leftovers from the lake effect going on upstream. The flakes were quite small in this area, and didn't quite stack up to reach 0.1", so that will go down as a trace. I finally shoveled off the deck this morning, but there was a of bunch of refrozen stuff below the snow that was difficult to get off, so I left that there, hoping there would be enough warming to loosen it up with today's temperatures. Indeed this afternoon's temperatures above freezing have helped. I'm trying to get all the ice off my snow equipment in preparation for this next event, which sounds like it will have plenty of mixed precipitation, and those can always be a challenge to document. Right now our NWS point forecast has us down for an inch or two of frozen accumulation among roughly half an inch of liquid, and then after that it's got chances for snow every day right into the weekend. It looks like the precipitation after the Monday/Tuesday system is derived from leftover lake-effect moisture and whatever little impulses might bump that up a bit, but the nuances aren't really mentioned in the BTV NWS forecast discussion yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lava Rock Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 He just set up the dropcam about 10 days ago so I have not captured many images. Here is one from last week during one of the first wetter snows. I didn't know much about the dropcam either. They come in 2 versions. $149 and $199 for the better one. It just plugs in to a indoor outlet (they don't make an outdoor weather proof version like my Netcam) and then it connects to your house WIFI. You set up an account with a password and it streams to your account. For $10 extra bucks a month it saves 2 weeks of streaming. You can zoom in, set it to take stills if it detects movement and it has a microphone if you are away and want to hear what is going on in the house. I think it can work like skype with 2 way calling too. Anyhow for $149 its a great weather cam too if you are away alot. I would definately get on if I didn't have my Netcam. Just google them. I will post pictures here and there from his view if I see something worthwhile. Aspen, great place to live. I went with a Sharx cam and am very happy so far. Added some software that allows my Davis VP2 weather to overlay on image and can also assemble a bunch of images and create time lapse. Figure it would be neat especially for incoming storms. My cam updates every 15min. Will see how it all works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 I want a drop cam. I love JSpin's set up to watch a snow board for remote measuring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Went for a quick hike on Tuckerman's Ravine trail in Pinkham Notch this afternoon; impressed by how much ice is already on streams and waterfalls. Here's a couple of shots (Crystal Cascade, around 2300ft in elevation) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 7pm 33.4/21F. Obviously I am going to start out as frozen precip as temp has room to drop. Question will be how long can I stay below freezing at the surface. Usually its quite awhile. I guess the question is how much qpf gets in here and how fast. Just looked Mount Washington is 14F, colder than I would have thought Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I want a drop cam. I love JSpin's set up to watch a snow board for remote measuring. For monitoring snowfall, I wanted something like the Snowbird SnowCam, with a real close-up view of the snow accumulations so that I'd potentially be able to make snowfall measurement remotely if needed. It's neat to be able to check on it from work, and even watch the intensity and flake size of the snowfall in real time at 30 fps, but that turns out to be sort of a bonus. Most importantly, I wanted to be able to stay on top of snowfall measurements during periods of extended travel, so that I could keep my CoCoRaHS records as complete as possible. To get the most accurate snowfall measurements, I wanted the highest resolution camera I could get, and my initial searches for HD options revealed those outdoor StarDot NetCams. But, they were in the $1,000 range, and that seemed like a lot to spend for what I needed. Part of the expense there comes from the fact that they are outdoor cameras, but I eventually came across Dropcam, which offered HD video monitoring (at least at the 1280 x 720 pixel level) for only $149. It's an indoor camera, but that works fine with our back deck, so it seemed like a no-brainer. It's a piece of cake to set up and works right over your household WiFi. You can get video recording with it for a monthly fee, but I don't need that service for monitoring snowfall accumulations, so I just use the web streaming that's free through the Dropcam servers. They actually have a Dropcam Pro now that can supposedly support full HD video at 1920 x 1080, but from what I can tell thus far, they've only been implementing 1280 x 720 video with it online to avoid bandwidth issues on their servers and make sure everyone is getting quality streaming. I will be on the lookout for higher resolution options as they become available, since it can mean more accurate snowfall measurements. Our Comcast Xfinity service gives us 120 Mbps here at the house (which is actually greater bandwidth than what I get through my subdomain at UVM) so eventually streaming higher levels of HD video from here shouldn't be a problem. You should throw a Dropcam on your Christmas list or treat yourself to one if it looks like it would work for you – I suspect there are similar cameras out there by now, but so far I've been happy with the Dropcam performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 For monitoring snowfall, I wanted something like the Snowbird SnowCam, with a real close-up view of the snow accumulations so that I'd potentially be able to make snowfall measurement remotely if needed. It's neat to be able to check on it from work, and even watch the intensity and flake size of the snowfall in real time at 30 fps, but that turns out to be sort of a bonus. Most importantly, I wanted to be able to stay on top of snowfall measurements during periods of extended travel, so that I could keep my CoCoRaHS records as complete as possible. To get the most accurate snowfall measurements, I wanted the highest resolution camera I could get, and my initial searches for HD options revealed those outdoor StarDot NetCams. But, they were in the $1,000 range, and that seemed like a lot to spend for what I needed. Part of the expense there comes from the fact that they are outdoor cameras, but I eventually came across Dropcam, which offered HD video monitoring (at least at the 1280 x 720 pixel level) for only $149. It's an indoor camera, but that works fine with our back deck, so it seemed like a no-brainer. It's a piece of cake to set up and works right over your household WiFi. You can get video recording with it for a monthly fee, but I don't need that service for monitoring snowfall accumulations, so I just use the web streaming that's free through the Dropcam servers. They actually have a Dropcam Pro now that can supposedly support full HD video at 1920 x 1080, but from what I can tell thus far, they've only been implementing 1280 x 720 video with it online to avoid bandwidth issues on their servers and make sure everyone is getting quality streaming. I will be on the lookout for higher resolution options as they become available, since it can mean more accurate snowfall measurements. Our Comcast Xfinity service gives us 120 Mbps here at the house (which is actually greater bandwidth than what I get through my subdomain at UVM) so eventually streaming higher levels of HD video from here shouldn't be a problem. You should throw a Dropcam on your Christmas list or treat yourself to one if it looks like it would work for you – I suspect there are similar cameras out there by now, but so far I've been happy with the Dropcam performance. There has been a lot of talk on the Dropcam blog about people wanting an outdoor version. So far nothing. Perhaps because of WIFI issues being further from a router they are not pursuing this . My Netcam is outside in the weatherproof enclosure they make. I'm sure the Dropcam could easily fit into it. Stardot right now is having a sale. If I compare the best Netcam pictures I can get to the Dropcam Pro I got my brother I think the Dropcam has a better image and the zooming feature is great. If he put a yardstick out on his deck, say 15 feet from the house I am sure I could zoom in and read the snow depth to a 1/4" inch. Its dark on his cam now but maybe tomorrow I will zoom in with his cam and see how good of a picture I can get. I'll post it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I checked out Dropcam this afternoon after Gene mentioned it. I like the hardware, but not the high monthly fee to store images and streams on their cloud. I really like my StarDot, but I'm not sure I'd throw out that much money for one again...and that's even with the Black Friday deal I got years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginx snewx Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I checked out Dropcam this afternoon after Gene mentioned it. I like the hardware, but not the high monthly fee to store images and streams on their cloud. I really like my StarDot, but I'm not sure I'd throw out that much money for one again...and that's even with the Black Friday deal I got years ago.android app reviews were not good, probably will wait. I am sure the desktop version is fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 If the Drop Cam zoom is real good, I could easily set it up to monitor snowfall here. My deck is covered so it doesn't get much snow accum except for the outter edge, but I set up my snow board and stake further out by the planter beds. I'd be curious how well you can zoom, as if I could hit something 40 feet from the window I'd be in business. I still want to set a snow can up at the mountain like they do out west at ski resorts, but my measuring plots are so remote (it would have to be a fully wireless, solar powered set-up) it would be difficult. I've thought about something near or around the Cliff House at the top of the Gondola as it's pretty protected there, but I think it would be inflated snowfall sometimes blowing off the 100-foot cliffs above the terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I checked out Dropcam this afternoon after Gene mentioned it. I like the hardware, but not the high monthly fee to store images and streams on their cloud. I really like my StarDot, but I'm not sure I'd throw out that much money for one again...and that's even with the Black Friday deal I got years ago. Brian (and anyone else who is interested, you don't have to buy the cloud storage service. Yes it's fun to make time lapses and it will tag when there is movement in the cam's view for deer etc. However with the constant free image that is uploaded to your password protected site you can still zoom and pan etc. If you see a great image you can just copy and paste to your image folder and upload from there but you have to do it real time. If you want to play with with a real dropcam pro cam I can email you my brothers login and password so you can try it. Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 I checked out Dropcam this afternoon after Gene mentioned it. I like the hardware, but not the high monthly fee to store images and streams on their cloud. I really like my StarDot, but I'm not sure I'd throw out that much money for one again...and that's even with the Black Friday deal I got years ago. I thought JSpin said you can stream on their servers for free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitman Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I started hiking up north Lynx at sugarbush a little before 10am. By the time I got to about 2000' it was coming down steadily, the flakes getting bigger as I ascended. Went up to about 3000' and it snowed the whole time. About 3-4" otg above 2200'. Had some business to take care of in the woods and by the time I headed back down, the sun was peeking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 One more Dropcam post. When you get the cam they give you 2 week free cloud trial. Take a look at this timelapse I made a couple of weeks ago. Great video of the snow/virga coming over Aspen and my brothers house. The view changes as I took control of the cam a few times that day and zoomed in. You will get an idea of the quality of the Dropcam Pro. I saved the timelapse to a folder and just uploaded it to Utube. You can even see deer or elk grazing on the lawn at the begining of the video Enjoy Gene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBRI Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Checkout Geovision Ip Cams. I have many in use and they are super easy to setup, Stream to a Gv-Eye app/Wan address and come with NVR software to record back to any computer or u can put a micro-Sd card in them. 1.3/ 2/3/5 megapixel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxeyeNH Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I thought JSpin said you can stream on their servers for free? Nope powder you have to pay the $9.99. Only 2 week trial then you just have the "live" view. Of course you could cancel anytime so you could just set it up for snow season etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 I thought JSpin said you can stream on their servers for free? Yes, it's like wxeye said, you only have to pay if you want an actual recording/archiving service – there's no charge to just stream video online like I'm doing; presumably you're sort of paying for that when you buy the camera. The stuff that you've watched live on my camera PF is all free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Nope powder you have to pay the $9.99. Only 2 week trial then you just have the "live" view. Of course you could cancel anytime so you could just set it up for snow season etc. I think we're just using different terminology here – the live streaming is absolutely free; you don't pay anything unless you want to have access to recorded video. As far as I know though, you're still using Dropcam's servers, even with the free service. I don’t know exactly how it works, but I know I'm not running a server, and somehow my video is out there for people to access; I'm assuming Dropcam is running that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderfreak Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 Nope powder you have to pay the $9.99. Only 2 week trial then you just have the "live" view. Of course you could cancel anytime so you could just set it up for snow season etc. Oh yeah I'm just talking about the live steaming view. I wouldn't need it recorded, just as long as you can check it live with an Internet connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Woke up to a steady -SN and a dusting. Down to 30F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 CON just went over to UP so they're mixing already. It won't be long here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Mixing with sleet now. You don't even need dual pol to see that on radar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Back to all snow for now....huge aggregates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hvysnow79 Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 30F with -SN, picked up close to 1/2" before I left for work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.Spin Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Event totals: 0.8” Snow/0.06" L.E. Light snow was falling this morning at observations time, and the flakes were small at that point so it wasn't accumulating very quickly. With the temperature around the freezing mark, roads in the lower elevations of the Waterbury area (~500') were generally just wet, but there were some areas with slushy driving – overpasses were a good example of this, but I found slush in a few other spots too, so if you're in the area keep that in mind. Details from the 6:00 A.M. Waterbury observations: New Snow: 0.8 inches New Liquid: 0.06 inches Snow/Water Ratio: 13.3 Snow Density: 7.5% H2O Temperature: 32.9 F Sky: Light Snow (1-3 mm flakes) Snow at the stake: 1.0 inches In the Richmond area (~300') the snow accumulation was less, and it appeared to be more like a heavy dusting, but the accumulations bumped up a bit with the few hundred feet of extra elevation in the Williston area atop French Hill (~620'). In the immediate Burlington area near UVM at ~380', the accumulation was more like what I'd seen in Williston, and the precipitation was light snow comprised of moderately sized (2-8 mm diameter) flakes.. In his morning WDEV broadcast, Roger Hill said to expect the precipitation to transition over to liquid around midday today, or early afternoon depending on how far north you are, and then colder temperatures will turn it back to snow later today. Anticipating a changeover to liquid during the day today, I cleared the board for the J&E Productions Live Web Cam at the 6:00 A.M. observations session, but I've got the camera running for those monitoring accumulations and precipitation changes in the area today. As of ~7:00 A.M. or so there's been an additional accumulation of ~¼" of snow on the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dendrite Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 0.8" total. I-93 was a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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